The more apps you have, the better your experience. Apps can work together and share info, making it easier for you to do what you want. There's an app for everyone. Browse lists of top apps, view staff recommendations, and get personalised picks based on apps you already own. And access is easy—the Store is built directly into Windows 8.

Built-in appsWith Windows 8, your entire PC is cloud-connected. You’ll have new Microsoft Mail, Calendar, SkyDrive, Photos, People, and Messaging apps that are connected to services like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter just by adding them to your Microsoft account.

With SkyDrive, you don’t need to worry about being able to access your documents and photos on other PCs because when they’re in SkyDrive, you can access them from any device with an Internet connection.

The Xbox apps and the Video and Music apps give you the best in entertainment. Videos you buy are available for playback both on Windows 8 and on your Xbox 360. Get access to over 15 million songs, and play back songs in your personal library, all with the Music app. You also get the best games on the premiere gaming service, the Xbox Live Games app. Connect and play with friends, and create your own unique gamer avatar. You can even find and purchase games for your Xbox 360.

Mail allows you to see all of your accounts in one place, whether it’s Outlook.com, Gmail, or your company’s Exchange mail. You can pin email accounts to the Start screen so you can see your new mail on the live Mail tile without opening the Mail app. You can even pin individual folders to stay up to date. Want to read or reply? Click the tile and go straight to your inbox. You can even send a file from your PC and have it automatically uploaded to SkyDrive for recipients to see.

Just like the Mail app, Calendar combines your information by pulling together your multiple calendars into a single day, week, or month view. You decide which of your calendars are shown, and you can adjust the colors to suit your preferences. Pinning the Calendar app to the Start screen means you see upcoming events on the tile. You can even choose to see upcoming appointments on the Windows lock screen so you won’t have to unlock your PC to see what’s going on.

The Photos app pulls all of your pictures together into one place. So now your albums from Facebook, Flickr, SkyDrive, and all of the pictures you store on your PC are there when you connect your Microsoft account to these services.

The People app is your most complete address book. You can include contacts from Outlook.com, Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, and others. Quickly see what’s new, share an update, comment, or initiate a conversation with the Messaging app.

With the Messaging app on your Windows 8 PC, you can chat with Messenger or Facebook friends from one convenient place.

With the Reader app, you can read PDF, XPS or OXPS documents. You can interact with your PDFs by highlighting, adding text annotations, printing, and sharing.

Windows StoreIn the Windows Store, you can search for or browse thousands of apps, all grouped in easy- to-find categories. We highlight great apps for you and provide quick access to frequently downloaded apps. You can also see how other people have rated apps. You’ll always know what’s interesting, new, and popular.

You won’t have to worry about buying something you don’t want because you can try before you buy, if the app supports it. If you try an app and like it, you can buy it and continue using the full app with no interruption. You won’t waste time or lose your place.

After you decide, you can buy with peace of mind because before an app makes it to the Windows Store, it’s screened and checked for viruses.You can download your apps on more than one Windows 8 PC so there’s no need to buy it twice. After you install an app from the Windows Store, you can sign in to the Store on up to five other PCs and see a list of all of the apps you own. You can pick and choose the apps you want to install on other PCs without having to search for and install them individually.

Designed for discoveryThe Windows Store is designed to make it easy to discover apps without getting lost. You can search or browse by category or lists of top apps to find the apps you want. You’ll see compelling apps featured on the front page and you’ll have no trouble finding apps because they’re organized in categories like New releases, Top paid, Top free, and Rising stars.

Protecting childrenUsing Family Safety, you can change settings to determine what your children can download and see in the Windows Store. Setting up a rating level filters the apps and games that children can access and provides a safer environment based on your preferred restrictions.

Do I need a Microsoft account to use the Windows Store?Yes. With a Microsoft account, you can see all of the apps you bought from the Store and you can install any of those apps on up to five PCs.To sign up for a Microsoft account:1. Open Windows Store, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Settings. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Settings.)2. Tap or click Your account, tap or click Sign in, and then tap or click Sign up for a Microsoft account.

I got an app from the Store but can't find it on my PC. Where is it?After apps are installed, a tile for the app appears on the Start screen. If you don't see the tile for an app, you can try searching for the app on your PC:1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.)2. Make sure the search is set to search Apps, and then enter the name of the app.

If an app doesn't appear in the search results, you can reinstall it on your PC:1. Open Windows Store, swipe in from the top edge of the screen, and then tap Your apps. (If you're using a mouse, point to the top of the screen, right-click, and then click Your apps.)2. Swipe down on or right-click the app you want to reinstall, and then tap or click Install.

How do I use my apps on other PCs?You can install any of the apps you bought from the Store on up to five PCs. To install one of your apps on another PC:1. Open Windows Store, swipe in from the top edge of the screen, and then tap Your apps. (If you're using a mouse, point to the top of the screen, right-click, and then click Your apps.)2. Swipe down on or right-click the app you want to install, and then tap or click Install.

I'm having trouble with an app. How do I get help for it?If you're having a technical problem with an app, you can contact the developer of the app for support. To view the developer's support info:1. Open Windows Store, and go to the app's description page.2. Tap or click App support to see the developer's support website or contact info.If you have questions about Windows Store, you can get answers from other Windows users and Microsoft technical support in the Windows 8 forum.

What's a desktop app?A desktop app is designed specifically to run on the desktop. You can view description pages for desktop apps in the Windows Store, and you’ll need to tap or click the link provided on the desktop app’s description page to install the app from the developer’s website. After the desktop app is downloaded from the developer’s website and installed on your PC, you can run it from the Start screen (which will open the desktop) or pin it to the taskbar to directly run it from the desktop.

How do I get help with Windows Store app purchases and billing info?If you're using a version of the Windows Store that supports app purchases and you have a problem buying an app from the Windows Store, or if you have questions about the billing info associated with your account, you can contact customer support to get help.